HOW A LAKARA PIECE IS MADE

This is where the long conversation between design and technology begins.

The shape is refined again and again. We adjust the position of individual stones, colors, proportions and thicknesses. We work on tiny decorative details, clasps, moving parts and the construction of pieces made from several elements. Sometimes a fraction of a millimeter changes the entire character of a design. The process continues until the real piece looks and feels the way the designer saw it in his head in the first place.

THE FIRST REAL SAMPLE

Then we make the first real sample.

And no, being the first does not make it special enough to escape criticism. It goes through a rather demanding approval process. We look at proportions, movement, comfort, stone placement, finishing and all those tiny details most people will never consciously notice. That is precisely why we notice them.

Once the design is approved, it moves into production.

A silicone mold is made from the master model. Into this mold we inject a special jewelry wax under pressure and remove an extremely accurate wax copy of the future piece.

Then something unusual happens.

We put the stones directly into the wax.

We use jewelry-grade cubic zirconia, not glass. And we do not glue the stones into our jewelry. No glue. Not even a heroic little drop hidden somewhere and hoping for the best.

The wax models, already carrying their stones, are joined together on what jewelers rather charmingly call a wax tree. The tree is placed inside a metal cylinder, or flask, and surrounded under vacuum by a special plaster-like investment material.

The flasks then spend around 16 hours in a furnace, gradually heating to approximately 750°C.

During this process the wax completely burns away and leaves behind an empty space in exactly the shape of the jewelry.

At this point the wax disappears.

The stones, rather importantly, do not.

Our stone-in-place casting technology is designed so that the stones remain exactly where they need to be even after the wax that originally held them has vanished. This allows us to create designs that would be extremely difficult to achieve by conventional stone setting alone, including almost continuous surfaces covered with stones.

That dense, sparkling surface is part of the Lakara look. Instead of treating stones as separate decorations added to a piece afterwards, we can use them almost like a material of their own: creating areas of color, light and texture that follow the shape of the jewelry.

After burnout, molten metal at temperatures above 1,000°C is cast into the flask. It fills every space previously occupied by wax and forms the actual jewelry around the stones.

When the casting is complete, the investment material is removed and the metal tree appears, with the individual pieces already containing their stones. The pieces are cut from the tree and move through several stages of mechanical finishing, grinding and polishing.

The largest stones and stones that require special attention are set individually by hand.

This combination is important to us. Technology gives our designers freedom, but traditional jewelry skills still step in whenever the human hand can do the job better.

It also means that the stones in Lakara jewelry do not depend on adhesive to stay where they belong. If you forget to remove your jewelry before jumping into the sea or a swimming pool, you should not have to spend the rest of your holiday searching the bottom for a tiny sparkling souvenir.

For the longest possible life of any plated jewelry, we still recommend rinsing it with fresh water after swimming in the sea or a chlorinated pool. Good engineering is useful. A little care is useful too.

Once polishing is finished, the piece may look almost complete, but one of the most important processes is still ahead: the finish.

Every Lakara piece is made from a jewelry-grade metal alloy and receives a carefully designed multi-layer electroplated coating.

WHY SEVERAL LAYERS INSTEAD OF SIMPLY ADDING THE FINAL COLOR?

Because each layer has a job.

Some help smooth microscopic imperfections in the surface. Others improve adhesion between the base and the final coating. Barrier layers help protect the underlying metal from oxidation and separate it from the surface. Finally comes the precious-metal finish that gives the jewelry its color, character and beautifully polished appearance.

Depending on the design, we use yellow gold, rose gold, platinum for our white finish, or ruthenium for our black finish.

The layered construction is intended to make the finish more durable and to reduce direct contact between the skin and the underlying alloy. As with all jewelry, individual sensitivities can vary, but we design our finishing system with comfortable everyday wear very much in mind.